Dog's eye view

I had one of those days yesterday. Bone tired is the only way to describe it. I was on the final leg of my trip home, with one more mission to stop at the bank. I turned to my back seat to get a pen out of my laptop bag and it wasn't there. I had left it at my client's house. I was too tired to even panic or get upset. I needed a nap.
I was headed to home to Vermont the next day. Could I go four days without my laptop? That was a definite no. My only option was to get up really early the next day, drive the two hour round trip in morning traffic and be done with it. I was actually grateful for being so tired, otherwise I would've been really irritated. I thought to myself, "There has to be some message for me in this."
I woke up early today and hit the road. I made a plan to get all of my errands done during the morning, teach class, then have the afternoon to catch up on some rest. It was a gorgeous morning. It wasn't the usual rush hour traffic I would hit at that time, so my trip was feeling leisurely. I retrieved my laptop without a problem and headed to the local coffee roaster to get a supply of coffee. Some for the house and some to take home to my father.
I was at a stop light and looked into my rearview mirror. I saw this man give his dog a good scratching. You could see the bond between the two of them and how much they loved each other. At first my heart sank because I missed my Molly dog so much, but then I was overcome by the happiness I felt for being able to witness unconditional love. The next two stoplights the same exchange happened. There was a lot of smiling, petting and looking each other in the eyes. They finally made their turn and I couldn't help but feel happy. My theme for class this week has been teaching joy. Joy doesn't have to come from something that is happening directly to you, you can experience joy by sharing in the successes of others. That's seven billion opportunities for joy. My heart was truly feeling full.
I got to the coffee shop. There was a parking spot right in front with time still on the meter. I was having one heck of a good morning. I opened the door to the coffee shop and there was a man seated at the table with a dog at his feet. A woman was petting it, and as I walked in, I could see this dog lean his head past her so he had a direct line of sight to me. I didn't want to interrupt this woman giving the dog attention, but I wasn't going to leave without saying hello back. I said softly, "I see you sweetheart." The dog thumped his tail softly to assure that he heard me.
I went to the counter to make my purchase, and when I returned to the table with the dog, the woman had left. I asked the man if I could pet his dog and he said, "Sure." I got down to the floor and started petting this dog. He was a gentle old soul and I said to the dog, "I saw you looking at me." The man heard me and said, "No he didn't, he's blind." I smiled at the dog because I knew he saw me, and I saw him too. I said "Thank you" and left.
I can't help but think about the senses and how deceptive they can be. We can experience only a fraction of what is available to us through our senses, and seeing isn't just limited to our eyes. You can see using a combination of other senses. Someone's vibration across the floor could say a lot about how tall they are, how they carry themselves, or how much they weigh, without even setting your eyes on them.
We all see the same world, but we view it very differently. I wonder what made that dog see me, because I felt it in my heart.
How do you see the world?